Wednesday, July 26, 2006

The Rainy Season

We have recently discovered that Beijing has a rainy season. Remembering how dry it is for the other 3/4ths of the year, this is something of a surprise. Almost every night it rains for a couple hours while we are sleeping. This past week there have also been regular afternoon downpours. It is the first time either of us have found cabs impossible to find - normally they are lined up for a block at every major landmark.

One of the fun things with the rain, is seeing how the locals deal with it. Watching how the cars deal with it is not fun as the car ride home took almost 90 minutes instead of the 30 that it usually takes during rush hour. But watching the bikes is pretty interesting. The most popular solution are person/bike rain slickers. They look like this or a group of people looks like this. Cara hasn't bought one of these outfits yet, but she is in the market and after conducting her consumer study, will report back.

Other than the rain slickers, the other popular option is to just take an umbrella with you - like this fellow. Notice that he also has a spare tire in case of emergency.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Cara could also try the umbrella outfit. On second thought, the lack of a shirt might cause a commotion. ;oP